Driver Who Killed Senior in Queens Crosswalk Not Charged With a Crime

A driver turning left fatally struck Mary Alice D’Amico as she crossed Myrtle Avenue at Fresh Pond Road. The white line represents D’Amico’s path through the intersection — it is unknown which direction she was walking — and the red arrow indicates the path of the driver. Image: Google Maps

A motorist who killed a senior in a Ridgewood crosswalk was summonsed for failing to yield, but NYPD did not charge her with a misdemeanor under the Right of Way Law.

Mary Alice D’Amico was crossing Myrtle Avenue at Fresh Pond Road at around 9:50 a.m. on May 14 when a driver making a left turn from Fresh Pond onto Myrtle struck her with a Nissan compact, according to NYPD, the Daily News, and the Ridgewood Times.

D’Amico, 76, was hospitalized. She died from her injuries this week.

Though the victim was severely injured, and police determined the driver failed to yield, the driver was summonsed under a Right of Way Law provision that applies to failure-to-yield cases that don’t involve injury.

Last year Mayor de Blasio’s office said that, in addition to misdemeanor cases handled by the Collision Investigation Squad, precinct officers are issuing Section 19-190 summonses for failure-to-yield violations that don’t result in physical harm. The violations are classified as traffic infractions, not crimes, and are subject to a $250 fine. For some perspective, the fine for running a red light on a bike in New York City is $190.

The Ridgewood Times reported that the investigation into D’Amico’s death was still open, and that CIS is working the case, but the department’s public information office could not confirm that. The driver was identified as a 36-year-old woman, but NYPD did not release her name, which is standard protocol unless a motorist who kills someone is charged with a crime.

“It’s going to be a big loss to her family and also to us,” D’Amico’s neighbor Lorraine Gering told the Daily News. “She will be missed.”

Gering said D’Amico liked to visit Las Vegas with her son. “She … wasn’t much of a gambler, but she just thought it was fun.”

NYPD needs to be prosecuted for conspiracy to commit manslaughter. Concealing the names of killers is conspiracy after the fact to protect them from prosecution.

KeNYC2030

That there are so few comments to this post speaks to how routine these outrageous failures of justice have become. What is there new to say when month after month, year after year, the system exonerates driver after driver who commits homicide? But we must speak, again and again; it is the least we can do.

Louis D’Amico

It is very disrespectful to myself and my family. Although I forgive the woman who killed my mother, appropriate charges should have been made. My mom was a wonderful woman who spent the last 6 weeks of her life in agony. The driver did not even have enough insurance to cover the funeral and burial costs. Three years ago today she was struck down. Mom rest in peace. I love you and miss you!

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